Refrigeration apparatus



Oct. 19, 1937. R, H, T LL T 'A 2,096,075

REFRIGERATION APPARATUS Filed Nov. '10, 1934 FIG=.I.

WITNESSES:

INVENTORS ROBERT H. TULL. a-nJ E o C. Tan/v23.

ATTOR Patented Oct. 19, 1937 PATENT OFFICE REFRIGERATION APPARATUSRobert H. Tull and E10 0. Tanner, Springfield, Masst, assignors toWestinghouse Electric.& Manufacturing Company, East Pittsburgh, Pa., acorporation of Pennsylvania Application November 10, 1934, Serial No.752,402

6 Claims.

Our invention relates to refrigeration apparatus, particularly to theconstruction of the evaporator and its associated elements.

It is an object of our invention to provide an 5 improved evaporatorconstruction and to connect the evaporator with its associated elementsto secure improved performance and efficiency.

This and other objects are effected by our invention, as will beapparent from the following 10 description and claims taken inconnection with the accompanying drawing, forming a part of thisapplication, in which:

Fig. 1 is a sectional view, of a beverage cooling refrigeratorconstructed in accordance with the 15 invention;

Fig. 2 is a plan view, partly in section, of the cooling element shownin Fig. 1; and

Fig. 3 is an enlarged sectional view of a portion of the coolingelement.

Referring specifically to the drawing for a detailed description of theinvention, numeral I designates a refrigerator cabinet in this instancefor wet cooling and storage of bottled beverages. The cabinet I isdivided into an apparatus com- 25 partment 2 and a cooling compartment3, preferably suitable for containing a body of liquid,

such as water. A movable closure 4 is provided for obtaining access tothe cooling compartment 3.

A hermetically sealed refrigerating unit is associated with the cabinetI and comprises, generally, a cooling element 5, a hermetically sealedmotor-compressor set 6, a condenser 1, a fan 8 and a sealedfloat-operated valve mechanism 9 in a container II. The cooling element5 is dis- 3 posed in the cooling compartment 3, while the rest of theapparatus is disposed, preferably, in the apparatus compartment 2.

, In operation, refrigerant vapor is withdrawn from the cooling element5 through a conduit I2 40 by the suction of the motor-compressor unit 6and, after being compressed, is conveyed to condenser through a conduitI3, where the compressed vapor is liquefied. Liquid refrigerant issupplied to the cooling element 5 through a con- 45 duit I4 from thefloat operated valve 9 in response to the level of liquid refrigerant inthe.

container II, the refrigerant being conveyed to the container I I fromcondenser I through aconduit I5. The conduits I2 and I4 are preferably50 flexible and extend from the apparatus compartment 2, up the side ofthe cabinet and through an opening I6 in the top of the coolingcompartment 3 to connect with the cooling element 5. It is readily seenthat the refrigerating mech- 55 anism may be completely assembled andsealed,

and then removed ,or replaced in the cabinet without breaking theconduit connections. I

In some applications, as-heretofore stated, it is desirable to utilize acontinuous or once-through coil type cooling element, because it isflexible as to size and shape and requires less refrigerant charge thanthe conventional flooded evaporator of the same capacity. The coolingelement 5 comprises a continuous coil of conduit I1, connected at bothends with a surge chamber I8 to prevent surges of liquid from enteringoutlet conduit I2. The refrigerant inlet conduit I4 extends through thesurge chamber I8 into the inlet end I9 of the cooling element conduit H.A plug 2i prevents liquid refrigerant from entering the surge chamber I8before it has traversed the conduit II. The outlet 22 of the coolingelement conduit discharges vapors into the surge chamber I8, from whichthe vapor is withdrawn through outlet conduit I2 which also connectswith the surge chamber I8.

The inlet conduit I4 is 'of small diameter, while the outlet conduit I2is of larger diameter and encloses the inlet conduit I4. By making thediameter of the inlet conduit small, the refrigerant does not expandappreciably until it reaches the cooling element 5. By disposing theinlet conduit I4 within the outlet conduit I2 in heat exchange relationwith the cold refrigerant vapor therein, expansion in the inlet conduitI4 is further inhibited. The efliciency of the entire system is,therefore, increased, because practically all the expansion of liquidrefrigerant occurs in the cooling element 5. Furthermore, the heatexchanger for cooling the inlet liquid improves the efficiency of thesystem. In addition, condensation of moisture from the atmosphere,resulting in dripping of the inlet conduit I4, is prevented by the novelconstruction and arrangement of the inlet and outlet conduits whichraises the dew point of those portions of the conduits J exposedto theatmosphere outside the cooling compartment.

From the foregoing, it will be apparent that we have provided ahermetically" sealed refriger ating system which is eflicient and whichis easily removed and replaced in a refrigerator cabinet. Furthermore,we have reduced or prevented dripping from the outside conduitconnections of the system, even though the distributing device forliquid refrigerant is disposed a considerable distance from the coolingelement.

We do not wish to be limited to a float operated valve in the systemunlessspecifically set forth in the claims since other-forms ofdistributing devices may be utilized in practicing some parts of ourinvention. Furthermore, we do not wish to be limited to compressiontypes of refrigeration apparatus unless specifically set 5 forth in theclaims, since other types of refrigerating apparatus may be utilized inpracticing our invention.

While we have shown our invention in but one form, it will be obvious tothose skilled in m the art that it is not so limited, but is susceptibleof various changes and modifications without departing from the spiritthereof, and we desire, therefore, that only such limitations shall beplaced thereupon as areimposed by the prior i5 art'or as arespecifically set forth in the appended claims.

What we claim is: 1. In a refrigerating system, the combination of acompartment to be cooled, a cooling element I 20 in said compartmenthaving a refrigerant inlet and outlet, a compressor having a refrigerantinlet and outlet, a condenser having a refrigerant inlet and outlet, aconduit connecting the outlet of the cooling element with the inlet ,ofthe 25 compressor, a second conduit for conveying liquid refrigerantfrom the outlet of the condenser to the inlet of the cooling element,and means located in said second conduit for controlling the flow ofliquid refrigerant to the cooling element,

0 the portion of said second conduit between said controlling means andsaid cooling element being of reduced flow area to retard the expansionof liquid refrigerant beforereaching the cooling element and beinglocated in heat exchanging relation with the said first conduitconnecting the outlet of the coolingelement with the inlet of thecompressor, said flow control means and portions of both of saidconduits being disposed outside of said compartment to be cooled.

2. Inrefrigeration apparatus, the combination of a cooling element,means for removing refrigerant vapor from said cooling element and forliquefying said vapor, a flow control valve for controlling theadmission of refrigerant to said cooling element and for substantiallypreventing back flow of refrigerant from said cooling, ele-. ment, aflow restricting conduit connecting said flow control valve and thecoolingelement to retard the expansion of liquid refrigerant before .31)reaching said cooling element, and an outlet conduit connecting saidcooling element and said wfirst means, said flow restricting conduit andsaid outlet conduit being arranged in heat exchange relation with eachother.

.25 3. In refrigeration apparatus, the combination of a cooling element,means for removing refrigerant vapor from said cooling element and forliquefying said vapor, a float-operated means for controlling the flowof liquid refrigerant from said first means to the cooling element,a'flow restricting conduit connecting the float-operated means and thecooling element to maintain liquid refrigerant in said flow restrictingconduit, and an outlet conduit connecting said cooling element andsaidfirst means, said flow restricting conduit and outlet conduit beingarranged in heat exchange relation-with each other.

4. In refrigeration apparatus, the combination of a cooling element,means for removing refrigerant vapor from said cooling element and forliquefying said vapor. an outlet conduit con-- necting said coolingelement and said means, an

inlet conduit from said means, to said coolingelement and float-operatedmeans in said inlet conduit for controlling the flow of refrigerant fromsaid means to said coolingelement, the portion of said inlet conduitbetween said floatoperated means and said cooling element being ofreduced flow area and substantial length to retard expansion of theliquid refrigerant before reaching the cooling element and beingdisposed in heat exchange relation with said outlet conduit.

5. In refrigeration apparatus, the combination of a cooling element, acompressor, a condenser, I

an outlet conduit from said cooling element con,- necting with saidcompressor for conveying cold refrigerant vapor to the compressor, afloat-operated valve for controlling the flow of liquid refrigerant fromsaid condenser to said cooling element, and a flow restricting conduitconnecting said float-operated valve and said cooling element, said flowrestricting conduit being of sufficient restriction to maintain liquidtherein at a higher temperature than the refrigerant in saidoutletconduit, said flow restricting conduit and said outlet conduitbeing disposed in heat ex-' change relation, whereby the liquid in theflow restricting conduit is cooled by the refrigerant vapor in theoutlet conduit. 5

6. In a refrigerating system, the combination of aonce throughcontinuous evaporator c0il, a compressor, a condenser, a surge chamberlocated at and communicating with the outlet end of the evaporatingcoil, a conduit-connecting the surge chamber with the inlet of the.compressor, a con-' duit for conveying liquid refrigerant from thecondenser to the inlet end ofthe evaporator coil,

said last-mentioned conduit extending through the surge chamber and intothe inlet end of the evaporator coil, means for preventing refrigerantfrom entering the surge chamber until it has passed completely through-the -evaporator coiland means located in said conduit for controllingthe fiow of liquid refrigerant to the evaporator coil.

ROBERT H. TULL. ELO C. TANNER.

